The Dusk Mother's Child
by Astion
Summary: A Dunmer child on the streets of Sadrith Mora has his life changed when he is captured and unlawfully enslaved. However, little does he know that it is the first step in a journey that he was predestined for, and one fraught with peril.
1. Prologue

**I would like to thank AlienSlof, for hosting this fanfic on her site before I decided to submit it to , and Bethesda Softworks, who created one of the most thoroughly enjoyable games I have ever played.**

**The story has already been completed up to chapter 9 of 10. I am currently in the process of completing the last chapter and revising and editing the first nine.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**--Astion**

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The Middas night was cold and gloomy. It always was during Frostfall. Masser and Secundus were high in the sky, casting their combined glow on Sadrith Mora. The freezing night air penetrated the skin and chilled to the bone, and thin, wispy strands of mist floated over the beaten streets. The massive silhouette of the Telvanni tower of Tel Naga, home to Master Neloth, reared out of the darkness; magnificent, curving spires reaching up to the stars and casting a black shadow over most of the city. All was quiet, and nothing moved, save for a momentary flickering under the shadow of a certain housepod.

Under the housepod, a small boy of nine winters, whose name was Reyes Drinar, shivered in the dark. He folded his knees up and clutched them close to his body, trying to keep warm. His only possesions were the clothes on his back and what money he could steal from passers-by. No one walked the streets tonight, and seldom did in winter. Reyes began to feel sure he would have no luck tonight.

Still, he sat in the shadow of the house, having nowhere else to go. He had been kicked out several times from the Gateway Inn because he could not pay, The Hole in the Wall tavern was much the same, and Tel Naga itself was completely out of the question. The priests at the small temple at the Council Hall had to 'Concentrate on their prayers,' and the townsfolk in Sadrith Mora did not even open at his knocks. Even the Imperial Cult at Wolverine Hall shooed him away, because they were particularly extremist, fresh from Cyrodiil, and claimed he was heathen.

In fact, he was. He was heathen in the Imperial Cult churches. He was heathen in the Temple. He was heathen in every organised religious establishment this cruel land had to offer, for he no longer believed in anything except that the world was filled with ignorant, arrogant, lofty people who did not have a loaf of bread to give a poor waif, even though their larders were stacked to the top with bread, meat and drink.

As Reyes thought these things, he felt a warm tear slide down his left cheek. He swatted it away like an insect, and shook his head wildly. No tears. Tears would not help. They never did. He snarled to regain his angry composure. They did not help when his mother died. They did not help when he was cast into the streets of the city with no one and nothing to help him. They did not help to turn the Tribunal's or the Divines heads when he sobbed up at the uncaring sky.

Gradually, the ocean of emotions clashing against the rocks of his heart calmed, and he sat there in the strength-sapping cold Feeling his eyelids grow heavy, he lay down beneath the housepod, resting his head on the gravel and trying to block out the cold.

Usually, Reyes' dreams were vivid, colourful – he often found dreams a warm reprieve from cold and frank reality. Tonight, however, it was different. In his dream, he saw nothing, as if a blindfold had been pulled over his eyes. Seeming to come from all around him was a heavy, guttural voice, clearly speaking to him, though he could not understand the words.

There was a shuffling sound on the cobbled street. Reyes half-heard it, and the dream was suddenly gone. He awoke, and lifted his head to look.

There was a cloaked, huddled form trudging down the road, hunched over in the cold. Suddenly fully awake, Reyes' lost interest in the houses lining the cobbled street, and disregarded the curving, moonlit roots of Tel Naga, vaguely visible in the half-dark. All he saw was the bulging, black leather purse that was strapped to the dark man's belt.

Cautiously, not making the slightest noise, Reyes rose into a crouch, supporting himself on the ball of his foot. Spreading his arms wide to steady himself, he began walking in a crouch, bending his knees in a heel-toe step. The houses in this part of Sadrith Mora were close together, and he walked under the small mushroom buildings; upon reaching the edge of the shadow, he would put a small spring in his step, launching himself softly forward and slipping into the shadow of the next house.

The houses Reyes was crouching under were grown out of a long hill curving to the left, parallel to the road. The hill was caused by a massive root growing from the tower of Tel Naga which had slowly caked over with dirt and stone during its many years of existence. As he followed the hill, and the cloaked figure he stalked, the moons, which were on his right, swiveled further right as they progressed. Reyes waited for the moons to be completely behind him, so this man could not easily see him. This happened just as the hill ran into the ground, ending in a gentle slope. Reyes increased his pace slightly, stepping lightly, drawing ever closer to that purse.

Then he was hot on the man's heels, immediately behind him, and was reaching for the black leather bundle.

Reyes considered himself a skilled pickpocket. He would loosen a string bag just enough to allow for a bigger opening, and not enough for it to open up its contents to spill. He would relax his hand, moving it in the same pattern as the swaying of the victim's walk. With his thumb and index finger, he would tug lightly on the strings, feeling them undo slightly. Then, he would reach in with a single hand and withdraw just the first few top coins, one with every step he took, so that the owner would not feel their weight leaving the bag. Then he would creep away into the night, and nobody would be the wiser. In his three years of pickpocketing, he had had his measure of close calls, but he had never been caught.

Which is why he was so alarmed when, almost before he even touched the strings, in a fluid whirl, the man spun around and grabbed Reyes' forearm.

'You!' The man half shouted in a rasping, cruel voice, twisting the boy's arm.

Reyes gasped as the man's strong, somehow sharp hands gripped him tighter and tighter. He uttered a small cry of pain, and sank to his knees. The man just watched him grovel, almost reveling in his pain. 'Come.' He finally said, and tugged on the boy's arm. 'Stand up!' Reyes could do nothing but obey at the harsh command. The man began to half-drag, half lead him through the cold streets of Sadrith Mora.

Reyes' eyes were fixed on the terrifying Dunmer that was hauling him along. Malice seemed to seep out from his very body. He could sense it right through his woolen brown cloak. It was only when he looked around for a second to see if anyone was he could call out to was watching, he realised where he was, and where he was going. He refused to believe it at first, but when he managed to catch a glimpse under the man's arm, he could see the single, thick, perfectly curving root that was the slave market that he fully understood who his captor was. It was Galdin Llethis, the slavemaster of Sadrith Mora.

'You can't do this!' pleaded Reyes 'My father is a Lawman of House Telvanni! When he finds out I've been kidnapped by you, he'll-'

'You are a street brat.' Hissed Llethis 'You have no parents. I've seen you sleeping in the roots of the houses, creeping around and pick pocketing people. I've heard you sniveling about your dead mother. Don't lie to me boy, or it'll cost you. I'm your master now.'

At this point, they had reached the pens. Llethis reached into one of his pockets and produced a key. Holding Reyes firmly, he inserted the key into a small chest on a table at the base of the root. Although it was dark, Reyes could see a glint in the chest. He knew the glint. He had sneaked into Tel Naga once (he still had the scars) and attempted, unsuccessfully, to steal something from the desk of an enchanter, an amulet. It had the same glint on its surface, even though it was made entirely of cloth.

Galdin removed the object from the chest. Reyes could see that it was a shackle of some kind. He pulled the boy forward, and clapped the bracer shut on his arm.

Instantly, Reyes felt all the hope and care drain out of him. He felt completely indifferent to everything around him, save for a dull hot pain in his arm, suppressed with the sapping power of the bracer. He was barely conscious of being led up the root, and shoved into the topmost pod, and was aware of a faraway, grating noise as the badly rusted hinges of the cage brought the wooden bars of the cage around him.

He supposed that the slavemaster had left. For a while he sat mutely in his pod, before sliding onto the floor and falling into a restless, comatose sleep.


	2. Bondage

The sun was rising as Reyes Drinar slipped into consciousness. The bite of the cold night had, if anything, worsened with the steel dawn, and his arm still ached. As he opened his eyes, he was sensitive to the smell he had not detected the night before, now that the magic of the bracer had worked it's course; the moldering odor of stale vomit and dried sweat and urine stuck in his throat. The bracer had been a mercy the night before, but now he was fully alert, and he would have been sick if there was anything in his stomach. Instead, he gagged and coughed as he shook off the last vestiges of his sleep still hanging in tatters from his mind.

'He's awake.' Said a voice nearby. The voice was strange, as if there was something abnormal in the shape of the speaker's jaw.

'Hello?' called Reyes in a voice still raw with nausea.

'It's a child.' Said the strange voice again. It seemed to be coming from his right.

'I can see that.' Said another. This one was fluid and dusty, if that is not a contradiction, and fainter. Reyes could see person it belonged to, a tall, fan-eared Argonian in the first pod. Several corroded iron rings hung at irregular intervals all around the edges of his left ear, and Reyes could see a long, blue scar stretching all the way down from his knee to his ankle on his scaled leg.

'I am called Under-Leaf.' Said the Argonian to Reyes.

The other voice spoke again. 'Actually, his name's Wet-Leaf-Under-Guar's-'

'Silence!' hissed the Argonian.

'Well, it is.' Said the other voice.

'And my charming companion is the Khajiit lady Ahfraskha' said Under-Leaf, heavily accenting the word 'charming' and glancing in the general direction of Ahfraskha's pod.

'Honestly, I can't imagine having a name like that.' Said Ahfraskha archly, and Reyes could detect the smile in her voice.

'You'd be surprised how odd your name sound to us.' Said Under-Leaf. Then he smiled viciously, with no humour. 'Especially if you translate it.'

'You wouldn't dare!' said Ahfraskha, her voice frightened.

'So be quiet while I talk to our new friend here.' Said Under-Leaf crisply. He turned to look at Reyes. 'What is your name, Dunmer?' he said kindly.

'Reyes Drinar.' Reyes said quietly, quite astonished by the conversation he had just heard between his two fellow slaves. Such an exchange in a situation like this was quite unusual.

'Rae-hes.' Mimicked Under-Leaf with difficulty. Then he bowed sardonically with what room he had within the cramped pod. 'Welcome to our humble abode.'

Reyes got to his feet, finding that the smell wasn't nearly so bad if he stood. He pressed his head against the side of his pod, trying to catch a glimpse of Ahfraskha, but she was hidden from view.

'You won't be able to see her.' Said Under-Leaf. 'I can't see her either. Only you and I can see each other.'

Immediately a furry, pawed arm stuck itself out of Ahfraskha's pod and started waving energetically to Reyes and obscuring Under-Leaf. 'Hi there.' Called Ahfraskha in musical notes.

Under-leaf sighed. 'I apologize for her.' He said. 'She is slightly insane. I think it had something to do with the sugar.'

'It did not!' countered Ahfraskha irritably, and her arm stopped waving and made rude gestures at Under-Leaf. 'And I am not insane! A little mad maybe, but never insane!'

Ahfraskha kept chattering loudly as Under-Leaf started talking to Reyes again. 'I'm afraid you're a slave now, young one.' He said solemnly. 'It is a hard life. We are sold off to, at best, strict disciplinarians and, at worst, brutal master's who have lost, or never had, understanding of the word compassion. A word of advice: always do as you're told, and never talk back, or you will feel the lash, and the ones that the Master uses is especially cruel, and leave you scarred for a long time indeed.'

'Like the one on your leg?' Reyes asked. The sight of the wound made him cringe.

Under-leaf glanced down. 'No,' he said 'I received this the day I was caught. The raiders that hunt for slaves in the Black Marsh have strong arrows, and as I was running from such a party an arrow deflected off a tree and gashed open my leg.' Reyes nodded. 'How were you brought here?' asked Under-Leaf, twisting his angular head to the side in an absent gesture of curiosity.

'I tried to pick the slavemaster's pocket.' Answered Reyes regretfully. 'He must have heard me, because he grabbed me and brought me to the slave market.'

'Ah, yes.' Murmured Under-Leaf thoughtfully. 'Slavemasters always have keen hearing, most likely to listen for unwanted remarks from their slaves. No matter how much you grow to hate our Master, never curse him behind his back. I've made that mistake often, and paid for it.'

'What about Ahfraskha?' asked Reyes.

'Oh, she does so openly.' Under-Leaf sighed again. 'I don't believe she even realizes it, but she is beaten almost daily for her transgressions. He paused for a moment to let her ravings, still going strong, accentuate his point.

'And how did she end up here?'

'Oh, I was part of a sugar smuggling ring in a cavern near here until a few months back.' Said Ahfraskha, breaking off from her nonsensical babblings to answer the question. 'When the Legion raided the place, I was caught, but while I was being moved to Wolverine Hall, I escaped and swam out to one of the islands.' There was an embarrassed pause. 'I had a bit too much sugar that night, and I got lost. The next morning, I woke up here. But this is beside the point, aren't you listening? Now, about this scrib-'

'For Vivec's sake, slave, shut up!'

Galdin Llethis, the slavemaster, was striding up to the pens. He was wearing a fine suit that belied his foul disposition. His matted, shoulder length black hair looked as though he had made some attempt at combing it, without much success. He was approaching with long, ominous strides, like an avatar of misery.

'No talking!' he snarled again, and Ahfraskha broke off again to bid him good morning, whereupon Llethis hurled a loose cobblestone he had picked up at her. She stopped talking to pick it up from the floor, and stood with the pebble in her hand, admiring it.

.Llethis sighed hopelessly, and without a further glance to his wares seated himself at the table under the second curve of the slave market's root.

Soon after, a bosmer, himself wearing a slave's bracer, arrived with a pot of steaming saltrice porridge. At Llethis' command, He dished it into three wooden bowls, and pushed them through the bars to the other slaves.

Reyes looked down at his food. It was a viscous, dirty grey colour, and was moving slightly on its very own. It was quite tasteless, and the texture was both grimy and liquid at the same time, but to a boy who hadn't eaten for at least two days, it really didn't matter.

As they ate, other entrepreneurs began to arrive, setting out their wares on tables shaded by cloth awnings, and began hawking as people began to walk the streets of Sadrith Mora.

There were all sorts of people on the streets. Most were guild members from the Hall, and stopped only at the alchemy and equipment stalls. Others were clearly travelers or tourists; easily distinguishable from the travel papers and guides they held in their hands.

It was not long before a distracted looking man, with a netch leather pack slung over his shoulder, moved toward slave market. Llethis, who had perched himself on his chair with his feet on the table, watching the crowd, noticed him and lowered his feet from the table, standing up to receive him. Before the man reached earshot, he threw a glance over his shoulder. 'Don't breathe a word, or it'll be the worse for you.' He whispered, and Reyes knew the warning was directed at him.

The slavemaster knew how to deal with would-be customers. He was an expert merchant, and knew exactly how to deal with outlanders. 'Good morning, sir!' he called genially, assuming such a dazzling, open smile that he looked like someone completely different. 'Welcome to Sadrith Mora! How may I help you today?'

'Yes, yes, hullo.' Said the outlander, a tall balding Nord man with a frizzy short beard. 'I was wondering if you could point me to-' (He glanced down at the scroll, marked on the back as "A Guide to Sadrith Mora") 'Fara's Hole in the Wall.'

Without the slightest change in his face, Llethis pointed to the tavern directly across the street. The Nord seemed embarrassed. 'Oh.' He said, squinting at the round door of the tavern. 'I was sure...'

'Don't concern yourself, sir.' Said Llethis, giving a false, convincing chuckle. 'It's easy to miss.'

The Nord thanked him and stepped into the tavern, and Llethis cursed under his breath.

For about an hour, the only other person that passed near the market was a golden-skinned Altmer, who glanced with distaste and disapproval at Llethis. Finally, another man walked up to the slave market. He was a thin, bony Dunmer, and his black hair shot back in spikes behind him. Llethis, who was in his usual position, reading a book, did not notice him.

'A-hem.' Coughed the Dunmer. Llethis looked up. 'Ah, hello sir. Pardon me, I didn't see you.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Said the customer, examining the three slaves. 'Look, I need a slave to help me on the way to Suran from Molag Mar. What can you recommend?'

'I'm afraid I'll have to see your Hospitality Papers first, sir.' Said Llethis.

The man grunted, and reached over his shoulder into his backpack, producing a long sheet of parchment, slightly curling at the edges. Llethis' eyes skipped down the page, reading snatches of the contract aloud, examining the clauses for signs of forgery. 'District of the House of Telvanni on the 16th day of Second Seed in the four-hundred-and-twenty-first year of the Reign of our Sovereign King-' he skipped a few lines. 'Muthsera Angaredhel Mage-Lord, Prefect of Hospitality of the Town of Sadrith - and so on - We therefore his Majesty's said Magistrates, have hereby Licensed, and allowed the said Edris Valyon the Merchant, Dunmer, to travel abroad in the town of Sadrith Mora and its environs upon his own recognizance...' he looked up from the parchment. 'Yes, you check out, sir. Let me show you what we have in stock.'

He stood and regarded his items for sale, feigning friendly enthusiasm. 'The Argonian,' he pointed to Under-Leaf, 'name of Wet-Leaf-Under-Guar's-errm...' He glanced around. '-Arse,' he finished 'was captured about three months ago in Argonia. He is strong and endurable, but has somewhat of an attitude. The Khajiit,' He pointed to Ahfraskha, 'is a former criminal named Afraksha-'

'Ahfraskha, you dimwit!' yelled the khajiit.

'Be quiet or I'll sell you at a discount!' threatened Llethis. For some reason, this seemed to terrify Ahfraskha, and she said nothing.

'Yes.' Llethis continued, resuming his façade 'Ahfraskha. She has a temper too, as you may have noticed, but I have never known her to complain. Unfortunately, she is slightly deranged from overuse of skooma, but she comes at a lower price than the other two, of course.'

'The Dunmer lad,' he pointed to Reyes, who saw his eyes flash dangerously as he leered at him. 'I acquired only recently, from a merchant who is now retired.' Reyes knew why he was lying about his capture, naming him a hand-me-down commodity; the sale of Dunmer was often frowned upon in Vvardenfell, and in the entire Morrowind, as it was their homeland. 'As you can see, he is strongly built, and is well suited to menial labour.'

'And what do they cost?' asked the customer.

'Two-thousand four-hundred, one-thousand five-hundred, and two-thousand two-hundred respectively.'

'Two-thousand two-hundred!' exclaimed the Dunmer. 'Even for the boy, that's two-hundred more than I would pay for him in Tel Aruhn!' He was purposefully ignoring Ahfraskha. 'I'll give you four-thousand two-hundred, for the boy and the lizard, and no less.'

They haggled for about a minute more, and finally settled on a total price of four-thousand two-hundred and seventy-five Septims. Llethis unlocked the door to Reyes' cage, and the bar's swung upward. Reyes tentatively stepped out of the dirty cell.

'Come, you two.' Llethis beckoned to the boy and the Argonian, and led them down the root to Edris Valyon. Reyes sneaked a glance at Ahfraskha who waved him goodbye, the glint of madness in her eyes.

Their new owner had already counted out the money, and held out a large bag to the slavemaster, who took it. 'Thank you for your business, sir.' He said, handing him the keys to their bracers. 'Come again!'

The Dunmer snorted. 'Not likely.' And he led them through the streets, toward the docks.

Soon, they were in the hold of the Drowning Mer, a small transport ship their owner had hired for ten Septims to take them to Molag Mar, amongst the other cargo.

'Don't worry.' Said. Under-Leaf comfortingly, laying a hand on Reyes' shoulder. 'You'll get used to it. Our new Master doesn't seem half as bad as Galvin Llethis was.'

Reyes nodded, his eyes downcast. They sat in silence for a while.

'What was it like, where you come from?' asked Reyes, looking up at the tall Argonian, into his reptilian eyes.

Under-Leaf smiled. 'I'll tell you.' he said. 'In the Black Marsh, which you call Argonia, we, the People of the Root, live among the trees and the animals. The trees watch over us, as we watch over them, and no Argonian has ever truly known any home other than the Black Marsh.'

And as Under-Leaf continued his tale, the nine-year-old boy listened, unaware that every minute they were sailing further away from the only home he had ever known, and closer to the pilgrim's city of Molag Mar. When he glanced out a crack in the wood of the ship for a moment, to see how far they had gone from Sadrith Mora, he realised that it was no longer in sight. He didn't really care. For now, he had a friend, the first one he had ever had, and was soon lost in Under-Leaf's powerful words again, feeling the subtly rocking motion of the boat in the calm water, drawing ever closer to it's destination.


	3. First Days of Thralldom

Reyes had no idea how long he slept. He had never been anywhere other than Sadrith Mora, and didn't know how far away, or even where, Molag Mar was, so he felt disoriented, not to mention dizzy, after his first night in the hold of the Drowning Mer.

It was already a few hours past dawn; he could see that from the quality of the light streaming in from the infrequent cracks in the keel. He lay still, not yet fully awake, feeling the roll of the ship. It was slightly more pronounced than the day before, and he could hear the scraping of barrels and crates as they moved slightly in the undulations.

Reyes up out of his crude hammock, constructed in a makeshift fashion from a fishing net. Under-Leaf was still asleep in his one hammock, and as Reyes thought how extraordinary the snoring of an Argonian sounded, there was a cry from above deck.

'Molag Mar in sight!' bellowed the voice. Under-Leaf stirred and opened his eyes. Reyes noticed with fascination that the eyelids opened from the top down. 'Where are we?' he asked drowsily as he tried to support himself on his elbow.

'Near Molag Mar, I suppose.' Said the Dunmer boy. He peeked out the crack in the bow keels. 'I can't see much, but it looks like we're sailing into a river.'

'Ah, yes.' Under-Leaf said, not getting up. 'Molag Mar is on a river that leads through the Molag Amur region. This must be that river.'

'Have you ever been to Molag Mar?' asked Reyes.

'Me?' The Argonian shook his head. 'No, I have not, but I was brought through Molag Amur when I was moved from Seyda Neen to Sadrith Mora. It's the most treacherous place on Vvardenfell. There is always the threat of attack from bandits, and the creatures of the region are far from friendly. The sun is also very hot, and ash storms are common. Don't expect it to be an easy journey.'

'I'll be fine.' Said Reyes, hoping he was right.

There was the sound of footsteps above their heads, and tiny particles of dust floated down from the roof. A burly Redguard sailor appeared on the stairs. 'Your master wants you up on deck.' The sailor informed them. 'Sharpish.'

They wearily got up and followed the beleaguered sailor up the stairs and through the musty-smelling ship. The trapdoor creaked as it opened, and they stepped onto the deck. Reyes flinched in the light, narrowing his eyes to examine his surroundings.

The day was so clear, they could hardly tell where the sea that spread out behind them ended and the sky began. Light zephyrs blew over the deck, causing the single dirty white sail to crease and flutter, the sound of which could be heard all the way to the rear of the ship, where the captain was standing with the helm. To the east, Reyes could see a few small rocky islets in the ocean along the coast, and running all around the coast was a dreary grey beach of ash and sand, littered with driftwood and sprinkled with boulders, and hollow snags could be seen clutching at the sky further on. Directly in front of them there was a river curving slightly to the right. A distance away, on the river, there was an enormous structure, a huge, rectangular building rising out of the water. The scorching sun reflected off the polished stone, half blinding the two slaves who looked out at it.

'That must be Molag Mar.' said Under-Leaf, blinking.

'Indeed it is.' Said a voice behind them. They turned to see their new master, Edris Valyon, looking out across the choppy water at the canton. He wore a plain brown traveling outfit, a broadsword strapped to his belt, and nothing vaguely resembling a smile.

'When we land, you will unload the crates and baskets marked with my name from the hold, and carry them, to the bridge that connects the town to the shore. My bodyguard will be watching you, so don't even think about trying to escape.' As he spoke, a loutish Dunmer with a bonemold bow slung over his shoulder came to stand next to their owner, and Edris conversed with him briefly, echoeing the details he had just given his slaves.

The moored at an unstable looking wharf which stood low in the water, leading up to the canton in a steep ramp. Reyes didn't like the looks of it; it appeared that it would hardly be able to withstand the weight of a single man, let alone two slaves carrying crates. The gangplank was lowered and secured, and other passengers began leaving the ship to go about their business in the town. Apparently, the pier was stronger than Reyes gave it credit for; it withstood the weight of a Nord and two Altmer, the Nord clad in a partial suit of iron, the Altmer in matching suits of chain, without buckling.

'Well, get to it.' Their master commanded gruffly, and the two slaves headed back down the hold to collect the cargo.

'Nchow!' swore Under-Leaf, as he attempted to lift a particularly heavy crate. 'What does he keep in these crates, I wonder?'

'He's a merchant, it must be something like raw metals.' Shrugged Reyes, holding a basket containing, judging by the smell, a load of guar hide 'Leave it and get something else, I'll help you with it later.'

Under-Leaf grunted and picked up another basket. They returned to the deck, went down the gangplank, up the ramp and to the bridge without much trouble. When they got to the bridge, the dour Dunmer bodyguard was waiting for them on the middle of the bridge.

'Put them down there.' He said, indicating the cracked earth near the end of the bridge. 'Then go back for more.'

The slaves said nothing, and did as they were told.

After about an hour, the cargo hold was empty except for the one heavy crate, which they lifted with effort and carried to the bridge. They had barely enough time to mop their brows before Edris arrived, leading two guars by their harnesses. 'Good.' He approved. 'Now, open up the crates and load their contents into the saddlebags. Strap the four baskets on when you've finished. And don't open that crate!' he cautioned as they prepared to do so to the heavy crate. 'Ill load that myself. I'm going for a drink.' He finished, and sauntered off.

Without a word, daring not to under the vigil of the stone-faced bodyguard, they proceeded to unpack the crates, which contained any number of different goods; saltrice, marshmerrow, arrows, iron daggers in leather sheathes, pots of clay and glass, two suits of chitin armour, torches, rope and other commodities to numerous to name here. The Molag Amur sun beat down on them as they worked, and seemed to drain the stamina out of them every passing second.

'I don't think I can stand much more of this.' Groaned Reyes, prying open another crate.

'Wait, Reyes!' cried Under-Leaf. 'That's the-'

Before Reyes realised what he was doing, the lid of the crate sprang off. Inside, there were several dozen lumps of a glossy, ink-black metal.

'Ebony.' Breathed Under-Leaf, awestruck. 'This is contraband.' His slit eyes had gone wide with amazement.

'Of course it is.' Said a dangerous voice behind them. With mounting dread, they looked up to see that Edris had returned.

'You miserable slaves!' Edris Valyon's voice gushed out of his throat in a shout, and he clubbed Reyes over the head with the flat of his hand, sending him spinning to the floor. His eyes glazed, and as he struggled to focus them again, he saw the dim outline of his master standing over him with a stout cudgel. He was breathing heavily, apparently preventing himself from beating the boy further.

'Let this slip to anyone and you won't live to see another day.' There was a grim promise in his voice, and the two slaves did not doubt his word. He reached into the crate and withdrew a lump of the metal. 'Help me.' He said, and lifted up a flap on the saddle of one of the guars depositing the ebony in a secret pocket. Reyes scrambled to his feet and followed suit, as did Under-Leaf.

When they finished, Edris addressed them again. 'Not a word.' He reminded them, and withdrew to the side to watch the slaves work.

When the guars were loaded, Reyes and Under-Leaf were given some hard earned food and drink in the form of dried hound meat and water. The meat was tough, leathery in texture, but was far better than the tasteless slop that they were given in the slave market, and was by far the best food either of them had had in a long while. Then, they began on their trek to Suran.

---

The two slaves lead the guars, and their supervisors walked alongside, warily eying the road ahead and the rocks and stones that scattered the region. The well-trodden path crunched under their feet as the merciless sun scalded their shoulders. They passed pools of lava and molten rock, which radiated a fiery heat that demanded a distance of at least four meters away. Ever so often, a stiff wind would come up, whipping the dirt and ash around their raw legs and stinging their faces.

The first day was mostly uneventful, save for two things.

The first occurred at around midday. Ahead, Edris had spotted the steel flash of reflective armour up ahead, and an Imperial patrol, around twenty strong, soon drew within sight.

'Halt!' commanded the Captain; a short Imperial wearing burnished steel armour. The legionnaires, carrying either spears or shortswords, stopped and stood to attention.

'I'll thank you not to take up too much of my time, Captain.' Drawled Edris. 'I've a cargo of goods, many of them perishable, that has to make Suran in three days time.'

'That depends.' Said the Captain, removing his helmet. 'We have orders to search any and all traders on this lane, and the sooner you cooperate, the better. Do we have your consent?'

'Go ahead.' Said Edris, cocking his head back at the guars. 'I have nothing to hide.

At the captain's command, six legionnaires broke off from the troop and moved to the guar with military discipline and precision. In a few minutes, the caravan had been searched, and nothing unusual was found.

'Carry on.' Said the Captain, and the patrol moved on.

The second occurred during the late afternoon. The sun, already sinking, was hanging straight in their eyes, dazzling them and forcing them to keep their eyes downcast. They were between two steep hills, preventing any movement off the road. This was exactly the opportunity the bandits that had been stalking them all day were looking for, and fell on them with no warning.

They jumped out from behind rocks, roughly ten people of mixed races and gender. They brandished a variety of weapons, from cudgels to claymores, and clearly had no intention of taking prisoners.

The instant the first brigand appeared, however, Edris and his bodyguard reacted with lightning reflexes. The silent guard, in the middle of a step, planted his right foot down firmly, bringing his left foot forward and bending his knees into a crouch. At the same time, his hands were busy too, his left unshouldering his bow and his right reaching back into the quiver of steel over his back. In one fluid second, he nocked an arrow, slanting the bow diagonally across his chest as he drew it, and released the first fatal arrow in the space of a single second. The arrow whistled through the ash-laden air, plunging up to its fletching into the neck of an unfortunate Bretonian woman, who groaned, dropped her silver sword to the ground, and collapsed.

Edris unsheathed his iron broadsword and held it in front of him, bracing himself for the attack. A Khajiit, wielding a chitin spear, attempted an overhead thrust, which was countered with a speedy slash to the left, severing the spearhead and knocking the khajiit back. He held up the chitin pole to defend himelf, but a ferocious top-down chop cleaved it, and the cat's head, clean in two.

There were already two enemies dead, and Reyes and Under-Leaf were still trying to grasp what was happening. When they finally came to their senses, another two lay in the dirt, another khajiit shot through the chest, and a Nord woman with a gaping wound in her stomach.

By now, the attackers weren't nearly as confident as when they had started, and were keeping their distance, sheathing their melee weapons and using darts, throwing knives and crossbows instead. The one person who did not have a ranged weapon, a Redguard man wielding a steel katana, engaged Edris, and they began exchanging blows.

Most of the supporting attackers were now shooting and tossing their weapons at the guard, but one or two were aiming for Reyes and Under-Leaf. One caught an arrow in the shoulder, sending the quarrel from his crossbow high into the air, but the other, a vicious looking Dunmer woman, was flicking throwing stars at the slaves at an incredible rate.

Reyes saw the Under-Leaf was her target, and immediately scooped up a jagged rock from the ground, and tossed it at her. Miraculously, for Reyes was not an expert at throwing, the rock hit the woman square in the head, stunning her momentarily, enough to prevent further attack before another arrow found her heart.

Edris, who had disposed of the Redguard, now bleeding in the dirt, began advancing on the remaining brigands. Now whittled down to a discouraged, disorganised trio, took flight. Two escaped, but one of them received an arrow in the back of the head.

In under a minute, it was over. There was hardly a scratch among the winners; the bodyguard had been glanced by a throwing knife, creating a shallow cut, and Under-Leaf had been grazed on the ankle by a throwing star. However, after a moment of regrouping, the slaves were ordered to search the bodies. After this grisly task was completed, adding a couple of extra kilograms to their packs, they began to move on.

Although obviously grateful for his life, Reyes was disheartened by their victory. He had been planning to suggest to Under-Leaf that they escape while their owner and his fierce aide wasn't looking, but now he doubted that they would have remained unnoticed for long, and as he trudged through the hot desert, feeling the stinking breath of the guar on his back, he erased every thought of ever experiencing freedom again from his mind, and, disillusioned, consigned himself to his fate as a slave.

---

**That night, lying next to the meager embers of the fire, Reyes was in the half aware state between sleep and consciousness. He did not feel the depression that he had felt that afternoon during the battle. Suffice to say, he felt hardly anything at all. Although, when he let his mind wander further and further from awareness, he could feel something near him. He could feel it in the dark. He wondered absently if perhaps it was the dark. All he knew was, for some reason, the black that had always felt threatening and all encompassing tonight felt warm and comforting. He even imagined he could feel the darkness laying a consoling hand on his head, stroking him gently.**

'Mother.' Was his last, detached word during that day's consciousness, and, contented, he drifted of to sleep.


	4. Suran

**Reyes was aware of a strange sound at the edge of his hearing. It was definitely a voice of some kind, but what it was saying made absolutely no sense at all. The voice repeated its strange, guttural message. Reyes focused his mind on trying to understand the voice, and as he did so, he slid back into consciousness.**

'Wake up.'

Reyes opened his eyes. Under-Leaf was crouching beside him, with his hands on his shoulders, shaking him.

Reyes sat up, blinking away the thin film of trace amounts of dew that had settled over his eyelids.

'The master is awake.' Under-Leaf said urgently. 'Hurry, help me.'

Under-Leaf went quickly to the firepit. Burning wood was resting atop the ashes of the previous fire, and on top of the coals, positioned at a precarious angle, sat a medium-sized sheet of thin metal, and the flames licked around the blackening edges. A couple of small kwama eggs lay in the ash next to the fire. Under-Leaf lifted one of these, and, using his long, claw like nails, cracked the hard shell open, allowing the contents to spill onto the sheet. The liquid egg immediately sizzled on the sheet, bubbling faintly around the edges.

Reyes crouched next to Under-Leaf. 'What are you doing?' he asked the lanky Argonian, as he stared in puzzlement at the sizzling eggs.

'Breakfast.' Murmered Under-Leaf. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder at one of the two tents. 'Hurry! The master comes!'

Still unsure why the eggs were prepared in such away (the people at the Hole in the Wall only served boiled eggs), Reyes picked up one of the eggs, holding them with his index fingers and trying to crack the egg with his thumbs. It was harder than he had expected, having less nails to work with than Under-Leaf, but eventually his fingers broke through the hard outer shell, penetrating the rubbery inner covering, and he pulled the two halves apart. The shell split, and Reyes clumsily dropped the half-liquid interior onto the sheet, just as their master emerged from his tent.

He looked at them, then at the fire. 'Good.' He said, nodding. 'You show some initiative. Be sure to prepare it properly.' He stretched, yawned, and then went back into his tent.

Reyes met with Under-Leaf's slit eyes. 'Thank you.' He said gratefully, as the Argonian had obviously spared him a reprimand.

Under-Leaf smiled. 'It is only my honour.' He said, and then cracked another egg.

Reyes, returning his eyes to the sheet, was amazed to see that the egg whites were actually getting paler, and was solidifying as it fried. The sizzling had subsided, and the first two eggs were growing steadier in structure.

'Now I know why they're called egg whites.' Reyes chuckled, and reached for another egg, which, unfortunately, ruptured as he cracked the shell, and the yellow expanded on the sheet in a pool.

Since there were only two sets of cutlery, the slaves ate the meal with their hands. Reyes, at first distrustful of the food due to its appearance, was hesitant, but once he began eating it he found it was not at all as bad as he thought it would be.

'That was excellent, slaves.' Said Edris when he had finished. 'For a meal like that, you are forgiven yesterday's transgressions.'

Reyes opened his mouth to thank his master, but caught Under-Leaf's eye, and said nothing.

---

As the day neared its end, the caravan broke through the mountains that ringed the Molag Amur region. Although Reyes had been told of the wonderous Ascadian Isles, he was caught completely unprepared by the sight that met his eyes that evening. In a startling transition, Molag Amur ended at the mountains, and a fertile meadow extended beyond. For the first time in his life, Reyes smelled grass and felt it under his feet. In the dim twilight, gigantic parasol mushrooms were outlined against the evening sky, and the cobbled road was lined with golden kanet, heather, and stoneflower. Ahead of them was a lake, so calm as to be like a mirror, and roughly half a kilometer away was a town, ringed by a high wall. A low, echoeing call echoed across the fields from the town.

'What was that?' Reyes whispered to Under-Leaf.

'Siltstrider.' Under-Leaf replied quietly. 'They are huge insects, and look a bit like fleas. I traveled in one when I was taken to Molag Mar.'

'Traveled in one?' Reyes asked, puzzled.

'Quiet.' Edris hissed, and the caravan continued on its way, the guars trudging towards the town.

Reyes almost bolted when an enormous insect, ten times their size, came into view. The behemoth was moving towards the mountain pass, and Reyes could feel the ground vibrate with every step of its six legs. Reyes' awe was momentarily broken when he heard a peculiar sound, like drunken laughter, coming from the insect's back. The siltstrider nearly impaled one of the guars with its long, sharp legs, and as they slaves hurried to get the lumbering pack animals out of the road, Edris shouted vile curses at its passengers. The siltstrider disappeared through the pass, and the caravan continued towards the town.

---

The streets of Suran were quiet as they arrived in the square. The only sounds in the night air were the soft flowing of the river, the creak of the lanterns and shingles as they swung from their posts in the light breeze, and the footsteps of the party and the heavy breath of the guars in Reyes ear.

'Sathys, stay here with the lizards and the boy.' Edris commanded. He stalked off into the town, and Reyes lost track of him as he disappeared into the dark

After a couple of minutes, during which the sun disappeared from sight and plunged the group into darkness, he returned with another Dunmer. As they emerged from the dark, Reyes at first thought they were a couple of shadows, as every corner seemed to hide a shadow or two. They were chatting, apparently small talk. Edris had assumed a friendlier demeanor, and the smile looked as misplaced on his face as it had been on Galdin Llethis'.

'Helys,' he said, smirking to the other Dunmer. 'I brought an entire load of saltrice for you all the way from the Grazelands. Surely the trouble I've gone through is worth at least two hundred septims?'

'Exactly my point, old boy.' Said Helys. 'You traveled a lot more than you could have done. You could have just traveled straight from there to Molag Mar to Suran, but you detoured through Sadrith Mora. As a result, the saltrice is sure to be slightly stale, and therefore not as valuable as it would have been if you had come straight to me. My offer stands at one hundered.'

'Could we, say, split the difference at one hundred and fifty?'

'Nothing doing, Edris. The last time I haggled with you, you sold me a load of spoiled shein for a lot more than it was worth.'

'Helys, the shein wasn't spoiled! It was aged!

'Shein does not age, Edris, and you know that. Now then, lets have a look at what else you have.'

Edris, who apparently had marginal magickal capabilities, conjured a light that illuminated the pack guars. In the magickal light, Reyes could see the other Dunmer, an old, wrinkled man, pulling a face.

'I wish you had just brought it up.' He said. 'I can't stand the smell of Guar.'

Edris opened a pack, reached inside, and removed one of the several daggers. 'I have a shipment of fifty iron daggers, from Sadrith Mora., say, ten gold apiece?'

'Excellent. There has been a rash of break-ins lately. I'll take thirty.'

'Done. A couple of spell scrolls, also from Sadrith Mora.'

Helys opened one of them. 'Hmm.' He said 'Command Humanoid. The slaver's been having some trouble with his merchandise. Speaking of which,' he peeked over the scroll 'is the boy for sale?'

'Not unless youre willing to pay more than three thousand.'

'Too rich for me. Oh, well.'

The sale went on, during which Edris, a skilled salesman, sold a suit of chitin armour, his stock of saltrice (at a difference of 150. He was a persistent man) A load of muck, kwama eggs and stoneflower perfume, as well as a couple of miscellaneous potions and the katana that had been taken from the body of the Redguard brigand.

'I think that's it.' Said Helys, taking another look through the packs. 'No, I don't need anything else.'

'I have your order here, too.' Said Edris, assuming a hushed tone.

'You do? That's excellent.'

Edris unbuckled something on the first guar, and the hidden pocket came loose. He handed the leather bag to the Helys, who gave Edris a bulging bag of gold in return, then looked at the slaves.

'Are they safe?' he asked.

'Yes,' replied Edris 'they've known for awhile.'

'Are you sure?'

'Don't worry about it.'

'I had a friend once who removed their tongues as a precaution. You might want to consider it.'

'I said don't worry.' Snapped Edris. 'They know what will happen to them if they let anything slip.'

'Well, goodnight.' He said, and then hurried off into the dark.

---

That same night the party departed for Molag Mar again. The stars shone from a clear sky and the crickets sang in the bushes as they headed back through the mountain pass. After an hour of travel, they set up camp again, in the shadow of a huge grey boulder. After a meal of a few scraps of tough hound meat, Under-Leaf their master and the bodyguard retired. Reyes and Under-Leaf soon followed their example.

**As he lay on the ash, halfway through the doorway of sleep, Reyes felt sure that something significant would happen tomorrow. The thought calmed his troubled soul, and half-hearing the sound of a rat gnawing something in the dark, Reyes dozed off.**


	5. Contingency

**The fogged state between awakening and dream was one Reyes was seldom in. Usually, he would bring himself directly and quickly from sleep, as was prudent and natural to someone who had spent most of their lives on the streets. The past week, however, had seen a change in this instance. The traveling was hard and tiring, and Reyes often slept deeper than his instincts told him he should.**

**That morning it was especially hard for him to awaken. As he felt the early morning sun slip across his forehead, Reyes mind, as was routine, awoke. His eyes opened, and his breathing increased to its normal rate, but a part of him still seemed asleep. His vision was unfocused, and although the sun was glaring in his eyes, he hardly noticed it. He had a dull sense of admiration for the beautiful early morning sun and the sky around it, and with it came a peculiar sense of purpose.**

Then his eyes gradually focused, and he roused himself and Under-Leaf, who was still fast asleep.

'Hopefully.' Under-Leaf grunted and smiled wearily at Reyes' 'Good morning.' The Argonian rose to his feet and helped Reyes prepare a fire from the little wood that was left in the area after the fire they made the previous night. The bone-white ashes still retained a barely detectable warmth that Reyes felt while they were packing the dry twigs and over it. They then began to cook some nix-hound meat over the tiny fire.

Edris Valyon and his accomplice emerged from the tents soon after. Their master wrinkled his nose at the slightly burnt strips of meat, but made no comment.

After they finished breakfast, they packed up the guars and continued on their way to Molag Mar. The weather wasn't as bad as it could have been, temperature wise, and ever so often clouds drifting out from the Ascadian Isles provided them with shade on their journey. The sun sparkled on the gleaming ash, seeming gentler than the scalding heat that had burned the party's backs the past few weeks. Reyes, who a few days ago had resigned himself to the hopeless and bleak life of slavery, admired the rolling sea of ash and rock around them, and thought although he would never taste freedom again, life wasn't so bad.

---

After an hour or so, however, Reyes' dreary demeanor had returned, and he trudged along the parched road, leading his guar, and occasionally sneaking a glance at Under-Leaf. His friend wasn't doing so well. It appeared that the wound on his leg was causing him much pain, as he gritted his teeth and walked in a limp as they progressed. Reyes looked for a fleeting moment at his master. Edris showed no indication of knowing of the Argonian's discomfort, and if he did, he showed no indication of caring. He stared straight ahead, his alert eyes scanning the sides of the road and his hand never far away from his broadsword's hilt.

His bodyguard, similarly alert, walked next to him. The silent Dunmer suddenly turned his head and returned Reyes' gaze. Reyes' heart stopped for a split second as he met those cold eyes, and he quickly looked away.

He brought his head up almost immediately, however, to the right. He had seen a flicker of movement over that rise, he was absolutely certain of it.

'What is it, slave?'

He looked back at the bodyguard, who was the one who had spoken. Edris, his bodyguard, and Under-Leaf all looked intently at Reyes, and the guars slowed their pace.

'Well, out with it.'

Reyes was taken aback, being directly addressed by this dark man whom he feared even more, possibly, than his master. He fumbled for words. 'I...I was sure I saw something...over-'

There was a sharp twang behind him, and he spun around to look, which was probably the luckiest thing he ever did. A blur shot past Reyes' ear and over his shoulder, and there was a wet sound of impact. The pack guar that Under-Leaf lead cried out in pain and alarm, and toppled over with an arrow buried deep in its thigh.

A bosmer stood on the crest of the rise. He held an iron bow in front of him. The bowstring still vibrated with a musical tone, and the bosmer's leather gloved hand was already withdrawing another arrow from the quiver he had slung over his back. Three brigands, two Khajiit and one Argonian, stood to either side of the bosmer, who seemed to be the leader.

'Hand over your goods and your lives will be spared.' Murmured the bosmer, just loud enough to be heard. His voice was steady and supremely confident.

The dark bodyguard acted once again in one smooth motion, sliding the arrow out of the quiver and fitting it to the string, drawing the string taut, the steel arrow aimed directly at the bosmer's chest.

There was an off-key twang, and the arrow flew out of the Dunmer's hand, cartwheeled through the air and entrenched itself into the ash. The two pieces of the bowstring cut his hand like razors, and he lifted his face to cry out, but he had no time for pain. A split second later an arrow sheared through the bottom of his chin, through his mouth, and there was a sharp splintering sound as the shard shattered his skull and went clean through his head, the crimson arrowhead protruding out of the man's scalp and his blood spraying out in a cloud behind him, staining the grey ash red.

Edris swore and drew his sword, diving in behind the fallen guar. Under-Leaf had taken cover behind it at the first sign of trouble. Reyes knew that his only cover was behind that guar.

'Come here, boy.' Said the bosmer brigand, beckoning to him. 'We could use a good slave.'

Reyes looked at him, then at the guar. He seriously considered joining the outlaw, but he knew that Under-Leaf was still with Edris, and that the outlaws would most probably kill him for his disability.

Slowly, the bosmer nocked an arrow. And leveled the deadly point at Reyes' neck.

'Last chance.'

Reyes was paralysed with indecision and fear.

Then Under-Leaf darted out from behind the guar, hurling a round stone at the brigands. At the sudden movement, the Bosmer immediately aimed the bow at the Argonian.

A high pitched whistle screamed as the twang of the bow sounded. Reyes watched as the two projectiles crossed past each other. The rock arced through the air hitting one of the brigands square in the face, dazing him, but there was a gasp of pain as the arrow hit Under-Leaf. The Argonian half-ran, half-fell back behind the guar.

In the instant of shock that followed, the realization that the rock was a diversion broke through the horror, and Reyes launched himself across the ash.

The Bosmer was too fast. Already he had seen through the plan, and another arrow was tightening the string. Reyes realised that he had lost as soon as the Bosmer nocked the arrow.

There was no pain, but the shock of the impact knocked Reyes off his feet, and he collapsed behind the guar. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Under-Leaf, curled up on the ground with a hole through his wrist, calling his name in a scream the Reyes could not hear.

---

**Reyes' vision was as black as night, and a palpable silence deafened his senses. He felt nothing except his own consciousness, starkly outlined against the abject darkness. So this is what it was like to die, He thought, and wondered briefly if it would have been different had there been room in his heart for belief in a higher power.**

**He was indifferent to time. He could not sense the passing of the seconds, hours, days and years. What was slowly trickling by might not even have been time at all. He felt no physical presence. He felt sure he was not seeing with his eyes, even if he still had them. The blackness weighed down on him like a suffocating blanket, but Reyes cared not. He felt no emotions. All happiness and hope had left him, but he had never had much of them in life anyway. What mattered was that everything else, fear, doubts, rage and sorrow were gone too. He did not fear the dark. That was impossible. All he felt was an all-enduring peace.**

**Slowly, something emerged from the darkness. At first it was just a disturbance, a warping in the fabric of nothingness. Then the warping took on colour, then many colours, scintillating in a cloud of vibrant light. With it came sounds, from distant, clear chimes to sucking, liquid noise that would have evoked nausea in the living, all merged together.**

**Almost imperceptibly, the colour sharpened and the sound grew clearer and separated. He could barely make out the heavy breathing of a guar, raucous, taunting laughter and sulpherous curses, mixed in with the light whistling of the wind.**

His vision sharpened, and he dimly recognised Under-Leaf's reptilian face above him.

Reyes felt drained and tired as he let Under-Leaf sit him up against a nearby boulder.

'I thought you were dead.' Under-Leaf said, his voice heavy with relief.

'I thought so too.' Reyes replied weakly, and coughed.

'In fact, I can't see why you aren't dead. The arrow was going so fast it went right through you.'

Reyes looked down at his body. There was a faintly painful spot just below his heart. He lifted up his shirt. A layer of bright blood shone on his skin, but there was no hole. Reyes gingerly touched the area with his finger. There was no damage to his flesh.

'I don't think he hit me.' Reyes said, surprised. That bosmer looked lethal with a bow.

'He must have.' Under-Leaf replied. 'I saw it go through.' He looked at the broken arrow lying a couple of meters away. A reached out for it, and examined it carefully.

'No blood.' He said. 'Then why are you bleeding?'

'I don't think I'm bleeding, either.' Reyes said. 'I think that's your blood.'

Under-Leaf glanced down at the gaping wound in his left wrist, which he cradled in his lap. 'I think you're right.' He said.

'Does it hurt?'

'A little.' Replied Under-Leaf. 'I'll be fine.'

'It doesn't look like that to me. I can see daylight coming through it.' Countered Reyes. He gripped the ragged sleeve of his shirt and ripped it off. 'Hold out your hand.'

Under-Leaf winced and gritted his teeth as Reyes bound the cloth around his wrist. The wound was bleeding very badly, and before Reyes had finished, it was already soaked with blood.

'How's that?'

'Better.' Under-Leaf smiled. 'Thank you.'

'How long was I unconscious?'

'Only around ten seconds.'

There was another whistle, and a wet thump sounded behind the guar. The guar screamed in its hoarse voice, and its breathing grew more laboured and choked with blood.

'Damn!' cried the voice of their master, who was peeking over the guar's head when the arrow hit. His face was splattered with the guar's blood. He wiped the blood out of his eyes with his sleeve, then glanced at Reyes and Under-Leaf, and did a double take when he saw Reyes sitting up against the rock.

'You're alive!' Edris said. 'How did you survive?'

'I don't know, Master.' Said Reyes.

'How bad is your wound?'

'I don't have one, Master.'

'Don't play games with me, boy.' Edris said sternly. 'I've been in combat more times than I can remember, and there's no way you could have escaped at least moderate injury against odds like that.'

'He is not injured, Master.' Under-Leaf concurred. 'The blood on his chest is my own.'

'Impossible!' Edris exclaimed. 'Unless you have some sort of magickal talent. But even so, the slave bracer would have-' He broke off as another arrow hit the guar, and its breathing stopped.

Edris sat in silent thought for a moment. Then he reached into his shirt, and produced the key to the bracers. He handed it to the slaves. 'Unlock your bracers.' He said.

Under-Leaf stared at him, key in hand.

'Do it.' Edris said, then peeked again over the dead guar. There was another sodden impact, and blood sprayed out behind them.

Under-Leaf fumbled with the key, struggling to insert it into the keyhole on his bracer. Reyes took it from him, and unlocked Under-Leaf's bracer, then his own.

'Have you any magickal ability?' Edris asked Reyes as he massaged his wrist.

'No.' Reyes answered, a bit unsteadily.

'I have a moderate skill in Illusion, Master.' Said Under-Leaf.

'Are you able to conjure up apparitions?'

Under-Leaf frowned. 'I think, Master. I have not practiced in a long time.'

'Can you project an image of me? It must run out from behind the guar, then collapse as an arrow strikes it.'

Under-Leaf thought for a moment. 'I believe so, Master, but the arrow will fly straight through the illusion.'

'That's good enough. Now, when I appear to be dead, the bandits will undoubtedly try to get to you first, as slaves are worth a lot. As soon as they do so, we must all attack them simultaneously. I have no doubt that we will survive. The Bosmer seemed proficient with his weapon, but I doubt the others are anything else than a retinue of spectators.'

Reyes and Under-Leaf nodded their acquiescence.

'I will need to see your whole body the entire time, Master.' Under-Leaf said.

'Very well.' Edris stretched himself out into a stiff position on the ash. 'Hurry up. This feels ridiculous.'

Under-Leaf began to move his hands in intricate patterns in the air between himself and Edris, and a golden light emanated from them as he did so. Reyes watched as a pale mist appeared, swirling through the air and hanging low over the ground.

Reyes, aware that he may have to defend himself, looked around for some form of weapon. Besides the boulder he sat against, there was nothing suitable. However, he opened up a leather bag on the side of the dead guar, and felt around in it. He grasped what felt like a hilt, and removed the silver shortsword the Breton brigand had used a couple of days ago. He slashed at the air a couple of times to get the feel of it. It was heavy, but the weight may well add to the lethality.

As Reyes familiarised himself with his weapon, Under-Leaf completed the illusion. Lying on the sand (or appearing to) was an exact duplicate of Edris, except for the surface, which swirled and moved like smoke in a clear glass.

'I have finished.' Under-Leaf said to his master.

'Very well done.' Edris complemented Under-Leaf. 'This will serve our purposes well.' He rose into a crouch and shifted his weapon. 'Get ready.'

Under-Leaf gestured with his hand, and the illusion lifted itself up. It raised its illusionary sword, and charged out from behind the guar. There was another whistle as the arrow streaked through the air, and a realistic sounding thump as the arrow passed through it. Insubstantial, yet convincing blood fanned out from the illusion, and with a thump the illusion fell to earth, even raising a cloud of ash.

Edris winced. 'That was disturbing.' He murmured.

There was the sound of laughter from the other side of the road, and it grew gradually nearer. Soon, they were able to make out what they were saying.

'The idiot!' chuckled the soft voice of the Bosmer. 'Did you see him? He ran right out from behind cover! People just don't know how to fight these days.'

His entourage laughed uproariously.

'You check our new guar.' The Bosmer said to his henchmen. 'I'll get the slave.'

Edris and Reyes tensed as they heard the Bosmer's footsteps draw closer.

'Well, what have we here-'

In an amazingly agile movement, Edris leapt up, bringing his shining broadsword through the air in a brilliant arc, the sun flashing off the blade as it sliced effortlessly through the neck of the Bosmer. The bandit's head spun off his shoulders, landing neatly and conveniently in a basin of bubbling ashmire several meters away. The stumped neck of the wood elf fountained blood as it collapsed in a swirling whirlpool of dust, leaving only a large heap of ash behind.

There was no struggle to follow. The bosmer's compatriots were obviously just as dumbstruck as their victims by the disintegration of their leader, and immediately bolted for the hills.

Reyes and Under-Leaf emerged tentatively from behind the guar. Edris was staring blankly at the pile of powder that had been his adversary.

'What happened?' Reyes asked, baffled.

Edris said nothing, but walked over to the ashmire pool. He stuck in his gauntleted hand and felt around.

When he lifted his hand out, the head he produced was completely unlike the bony face of the bosmer. The skin had turned pitch-black, and polished black horns protruded from the sides of its head. The mouth, which was open, bared an intimidating array of long, razor-sharp teeth

Reyes started back from the grisly trophy. 'What is it?' he asked, his voice fearful.

'It was a Daedra.' Said Edris flatly. 'A daemon.' Even as he spoke theses words, the head fell apart and crumbled to dust.

'A- what?' Reyes was puzzled. Education was something he lacked.

'Beings which live in a world separate from ours.' Replied Edris gravely. 'They are evil and torturous, and it wouldn't surprise me if they would join brigands in disguise to inflict pain upon those of the mortal realm.' He disdainfully kicked the pile of ash in front of him.

Edris stood silently for a while. Then he walked off to retrieve the surviving guar, which was still on the other side of the road where the brigands left it. Reyes and Under-Leaf helped him to load what they could from the dead guar onto it. They then dug a shallow grave in the ash, and deposited the body of Edris' accomplice. Then they returned to the guar, whereupon Edris turned to them.

'You are free.' He said to them.

Reyes and Under-Leaf stared at him, then at each other. 'Why?' asked the baffled Under-Leaf.

'For one thing,' Edris said, 'you sustained a serious injury back there, and you would be a liability to me. Second, Daedra don't often come to Tamriel just to torment people. They don't like it here. It is more likely that the one who just attacked us was after one of us. If it is me, then I'm as good as dead. If its one of you, I don't want to endanger myself by keeping you.'

There was another moment of stunned silence.

'I will give you supplies.' Edris said, unbuckling two saddlebags and handing one each to Reyes and Under-Leaf. 'They should get you where you want to go. Molag Mar is just another day's travel, so you may travel with me for a time, if you wish.'

Under-Leaf got his voice back first. 'Thank you, Master.'

'My pleasure, but you can forget about calling me that from now on.' Edris said, with what appeared to be his first sincere smile since he purchased them. 'You may just call me Sir.'

Reyes fought to control his relief and happiness. He was free.

'You ought to have a look at that wound, Wet-Leaf-Under-Guar's-Arse.' Said Edris, noticing the bandage around Under-Leaf's wrist, which was practically soaked through with blood. 'I've heard a mixture of mazte and trama juice acts as a good disinfectant.'

Reyes could not contain himself anymore. He broke out in gales of laughter, much to the puzzlement of both Edris and Wet-Leaf-Under-Guar's-Arse.


End file.
